A/N: warning-- homophopic language (don't worry, this isn't too angsty lol)
Word count: 4100
enjoy 😊

-

Bill is driving, and by now, they've made it halfway through New Hampshire.

Ben insisted on watching Heathers first, something about a childhood crush on Winona Ryder. The movie is almost over, and Richie seemed to finally be acting normal again.

"Hah, she's watching him blow himself,"

Well, normal for Richie, that is.

"No, she's watching him blow himself up because he is finally realizing that their love does not put him above others, and in his actions to fix the world by ridding it of assholes and bad people, he has become one of those bad people with a literal holier than thou attitude." Mike explains. They all stare at him like he has two heads, but Ben looks proud. "What? I like this movie."

"Whatever. All this shit about their love being God is why I'm an atheist." Richie huffs.

Stanley's head turns so fast his kippah nearly falls off. "Richie, you know that you're Jewish, right?"

Richie just shrugs. "Well yeah, but not like.. THAT Jewish. I didn't even get the nose, which is one blessing I do thank the big guy for,"

"Why are we talking about Religion anyways?" Eddie asks, rolling his eyes. "Can we do something fun? It's our first time--" Richie snorts "--ON THE ROAD ALONE," Eddie clarifies as he elbows Richie, a sharp jab to the rib cage. "I think we should do something cool."

Honestly, though he has no problem with his friends religious beliefs, Eddie finds himself uncomfortable in the conversation. His dad was Irish, and he was raised Catholic. After his father passed, they stopped attending church, his mother only going annually on the day his father passed. Eddie had read the bible, and for a while, he believed in it. Then he grew up, and found out the more controversial side of things. Eddie discovered the prejudice within the old text.

He remembered the time that his mother's friend, Eileen, had talked to him about the bible. She was a kinder old woman from Massachusetts, and despite being highly religious, she was also surprisingly liberal. Eileen had a son who contracted AIDS, and, despite being heterosexual, was killed in a hate crime for the accusations.

"Bert had a wife," Eileen had told the curious, wide eyed fourteen year old, "He was a kind hearted person, a biblical man who did not believe in cheating. The doctors believed that he had contracted it in the city by chance, just an open cut and traces of blood on a subway pole. But that's when I realized how ignorant people could be. I could be." Eileen explained. "They killed my son, and for what? Even if he had been in bed with another man, whose place is it to say that is a crime punishable by death. All I know now is that Bert never hurt a soul. He donated to charities, made good grades. Never screwed anyone over, and despite all this, he died. Those people are human too, and they've got to be struggling more than we know, yet, we do not sympathize... why is that?"

What Eddie had been given that day was an eye opening. He saw past the curtains of his bedroom, and the prejudice of his town. He saw New York City, the good, the bad, and the ugly. And despite all this, he couldn't disconnect the two in his mind

In Eddie's head, despite knowing old women like Eileen exist, the Bible had an immediate connection to prejudice now. It was like whenever anyone spoke of 'love thy neighbor' all Eddie could think was, 'unless thy neighbor beith a faggot'

Sometimes, he feared his friends' views on that subject.

"And by cool, you mean?" Richie asks, tone sounding as if he didn't believe Eddie knew the definition of cool.

Eddie blushed a bit, moving to sit criss cross on the couch with Richie. "Like, I don't know, we haven't played truth or dare since Freshman year,"

"First of all, truth or dare is a game for hormonal twelve yar olds to play at parties, in hopes of getting kissed." Beverly laughs, "And second, we haven't played since then because Richie dared Stan to do a handstand at the top of the stairs and he fell down them,"

"I broke my leg..." Stanley recalls.

Richie hops up. "I remember that... Welp, I don't know if we can top memories like Stan on anesthesia, but I wanna play, so truth or dare Beverly, you fire haired freak."

"Oh my god we are actually doing this. Okay Tozier, Dare," She laughs, sitting on the floor, head on Ben's thigh, legs propped up and elevated against the couch.

"I dare you to..." He taps his chin, and then, too suddenly, a look of pure Richie genius-- or evil as Eddie calls it-- comes over his face. "Anyone have paper and a morker?"

Stanley nods, digging through the travel bag he carries around with him. It is like his school backpack, but more colorful and less practical. His parents had brought it for him to use on vacations years ago. He pulls out a piece of red construction paper and a black Sharpie.

"Perfect," the Tozier boy says, looking too overcome with excitement for this to be good. Eddie doesn't know whether to bite his nails or groan, so he settles on crawling to look over Richie's shoulder-- and oh my god..

"So here is what you've gotta do." Richie smirks.

Two minutes later, the curtain is pulled up and Beverly stands, looking out as the traffic as large trucks pass by. Her smile is sweet, and she is holding a sign against the window that reads honk if you're horny!!

The rest of the losers are sitting on the ground behind her, out of view from the window, watching and giggling because sometimes, sometimes Richie Tozier is a genius.

One man in his forties, driving a red, rusty pickup truck pulls up beside them. It's clear that the adorable redhead had caught his eye. His smile at her is repulsive as he honks the horn.

And that's haystack's cue. Beverly dicks down, and up pops the chunky teen boy, shirtless and flaunting his pale tits for the repulsive man that had a hard on for his girlfriend.

It's a hilarious sight, and all the losers pop up (not including Beverly), shirtless and flipping off the man who looks shocked, speeding up to get the hell away from that RV as soon as possible.

From the front of the car, they hear Bill Denbrough shout, "Why did a m-mah-man in a red pick-up juh-just flip me off?!!" and they all lose it, rolling on the ground laughing.

The game goes on, Stan admitting to cheating on a test in 10th grade. Mike downing an entire can of coke before Bill can yell supercalifragilisticexpialidocious from the front of the RV, Eddie telling the story about how he passed out during the birthing video in health class.

"Okay Richie, you think it's so funny, truth or dare?" Eddie snaps, sticking out his tongue in frustration.

"Okay, truth." He answers nonchalantly, not thinking much of the questions Eddie could ask.

There is something Eddie wants-- no, needs to know. "Why were you late?"

And Richie breath hitches. Fuck.

"Because I was askin' your mom the same thing, congrats on a new little brother." Richie smirks, hoping if he could piss off Eddie enough, he would forget the question.

The short boy with a shorter temper's eyes furrowed in confusion. "That doesn't even make sense- you mean late on her p- oh my god Richie, that is disgusting!" Eddie sputtered out.

"Actually, the miracle of life is quite beautiful, Eds. We were thinking of naming her Abigail Tozier-Kaspbrak." Richie smirks, but his cheeks are a little bit too red. He has definitely thought of that name before.

Eddie wants to cut right through Richie's bullshit, he knows when Richie is deflecting something. He acts like a sumo wrestler trying to dodge bullets. "Oh shut up, shit-for-brains--"

Richie had told quite a few bad jokes over the years. There was that time in the mall when he told Mike he was acting so white, he wouldn't be surprised if Mike was secretly caucassion and had been doing blackface for years. Mike had laughed, but Stanley slapped him so hard upside the head, Richie saw stars. Or, there was that one time that Richie had been walking to the Barrens with Bill and Ben, when he saw a three legged alley cat, and without thinking, yelled, "look Bill, it's Georgie!" before immediately slapping a hand over his own mouth. Bill had been quiet for the rest of the walk, but felt better when he pushed Richie off the cliff. And now, as his mouth moved dangerously faster than his brain in order to distract the group, Richie let these words tumble out:

"Besides, now she is knocked up, I gotta marry her, so sounds like I'm your new daddy, Eds-- I promise I won't die."

Eddie stopped bickering almost immediately. All the giggling and noises around him ceased. Oh fuck.

"Shit.. Eds, I-"

Eddie's wide and watery eyes snapped onto Richie's gaze like one of those bracelets that wrap around your wrist when you hit it.

With a venom that Richie had never recieved from the pipsqueak, Eddie spat, "Eddie-- Richie, my name is fucking Eddie! Don't call me that. This game is over, I'm going to go get ready for bed."

Eddie got up, ignoring how all eyes were on him as he grabbed that toiletry bag and locked himself in the bathroom. None of them commented on how it doesn't take 45 minutes for someone to brush their teeth.

-

Stan had prepared himself mentally to switch beds with Eddie for the night, but the request never came. At two in the morning, and supposedly everyone was asleep. Bill was passed out in the reclining chair at the front, Ben and Bev in their bunks, Stan and Mike in one bed, and surprisingly, Richie and Eddie in the other.

"You up, jackass?" Richie hears the quiet whisper, and flips around in their shared bed to face Eddie, having never been so thankful. "Yeah, I'm up."

"Good. Fuck you." Eddie says, and for a minute Richie feels like he might cry, when the smaller boy rests a hand on his waist.

"Seriously, if you don't learn to control your roadrunner of a mouth, someday you're getting your teeth knocked out." And it's followed by the best laugh Richie has ever heard. Not because it's beautiful, although it is, but because it's a sign. It's all okay the laugh says, Eddie doesn't hate you.

"Yeah I know. Sorry. That was like, level A jackass of me. So, we're good now?" Richie asks, leaning forward and melting into Eddie's slight touch.

"Not quite. You don't have to tell all of them, but you gotta tell me. What the fuck happened today?"

It's the question Richie has been avoiding all night, and Eddie has had enough.

"Fine...fuck."

So this is where we dive in folks, Richie thinks, animating himself in his mind as if someone were actually listening. It's a habit that he has had for awhile. Honestly more of a tactic now that he uses to write comedy skits. Time to finally address the big fat fucking elephant in the room, before it shits on the carpets, because, you better believe that smell ain't coming out. Huh, not coming out? Never thought I'd have anything in common with.. Well, that.

Richie's parents do not hit him. They ignore him, drink, leave him alone for weeks without grocery money, but they don't touch their son.

If they did, Richie could have gone to the police.

He'd considered going for abandonment, but they are there most of the time, just not, you know... all there. When he was younger they were just fine. Granted, his mother never understood him, and his father didn't actually listen when they talked, but they talked to him. They made an effort. Then, there was that one day... Richie's dad came into his room, bearing a five dollar bill, ready to bribe Richie into mowing the lawn when he saw it. Richie, on his bed, holding a Captain America comic and clearly aroused-- just not over Peggy Carter.

The way that Richie had jumped back, not because he was unclothed or anything, but because he was guilty. It didn't take much more than a glance at the page, a full shot of Steve Rogers going from twink to hunk for Wentworth to put two and two together and realize-- his son was a fucking fairy.

Things were never the same, and Richie knew it was his fault.

"I got home and saw Wentworth.. With his hand around her throat. She was bloody and slipping in and out of consciousness. There were divorce papers on the counter. She wanted to split up. I thought he was going to..."

Eddie's eyes are wide, because holy fuck, how does one prepare for that shit. He doesn't know how to comfort Richie. There are no tears to wipe away. Once again, he looks vacant. Eddie thinks he hates this more.

"So I waited for him to leave, stole his keys, and drove her to my aunt's friends house. My aunt should be picking her up and bringing her to Indiana soon."

"Fuck." is all Eddie can let out. It's funny, Richie notices, but only for a second, Eddie looks like the 13 year old clown fighter again in that garage. His eyes are wide, and brows furrowed in a mix of fear, confusion, and sorrow.

Then, "I'm sorry."

And Richie smiles. "Say it again," he asks.

Eddie caught off guard by this, mumbling out a confused, huh?

But it's cheering Richie up. "I said, say it again. You, Eddie, apologizing, this is rare."

And because Richie is smiling, and only for that, Eddie says, "No.. and.. Just for tonight, it's Eds."

-

When daylight pours in, Ben behind the wheel now, nobody mentions how Richie and Eddie have completely made up. It's just the way they behave together.

Eddie was the first up, it being essential to him to take the first shower. Stan was next in the bathroom, then Beverly, then Richie, and so on. Currently, they were parked a half hour out of the city, Bill showering. Once he was out, Ben would drive the rest of the way to the parking spot that they had somehow managed to reserve over the phone. The 24 hour spot is a 10 minute walk to time square, and only costs them $40..

"Alright Eds," Richie smirks, Only half dressed in those khaki shorts. He didn't wanna put a shirt on while his hair was still wet, claiming it would drench his back, "Fess up, was that an elbow or a knee performing open heart surgery on me last night? I swear you wanted to split my ribs!"

"Dunno, wish it was a knife." He quips back.

Richie snickers, "Speaking of silverware" he stands up on the couch, the bed having been put away by now. "Heere yee, hear me! Dost the losers knoweth that Eddie Kaspbrak is a little spoon?"

The losers break out in laughter, Richie's dumb voices having improved tremendously over the last few years. There are two versions of 'the british guy' now. One that sounds good, and one that sounds like shit that he does only to remember with his friends just how god awful he used to be.

"That's it Tozier, your dead meat!" Eddie yells, tackling Richie like a lion going for the kill. The two fall onto the couch, wrestling and yanking at each other's hair.

The other losers choose to ignore them, going about their mornings. Bev and Ben are in the other room for the soul purpose of Ben braiding Beverly's hair (which is still short, but has grown out a bit over the past year), Mike is eating breakfast with Stan, and Bill is now dressed and sketching in the passenger's seat as he waits for Ben to come back and drive.

Eddie has gained some muscle in high school, but not much. And though Richie is thinner, practically just bones and muscles, he is still weak. The two are pretty evenly set, and Eddie has Richie right where he wants him when--

"Woah, Eds, something in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me?" Richie teases, knowing he was helpless now, and needing to distract the boy.

Eddie turns pink, immediately looking down to check, "What no... I'm not--'"

"Relax kid," Richie smirks, plan working perfectly as he feels Eddie giving up some of the pressure he has on Richie's wrists. "I'm only messing with you, I'm the one with the one with a hard on right now,"

Eddie is pink, shocked almost, he doesn't wanna look really, no, that would be weird, but he does think if he can feel it on him, "h-huh?" He says, and suddenly, Richie has flipped him. His skin is burning bright. Not only angry, but flustered. It's not just the way that Richie says this ever so casually, but the way he looks at him, hidden deep in those dark eyes, when he says it. Then the aggression when he is completely flipped on his back effortlessly-- and, oh god, Eddie is a bottom-- the feeling of Richie pushing him by the damn shoulders deep into the couch. And then, the way Richie leans into his ear and whispers triumphantly.

"That was a joke Eds. But I win." The tickle of Richie's breath on Eddie's neck is enough to paralyze him.

For a moment, Richie thinks that he has scared the shit out of the hypochondriac and then-- oh.

Richie pulls away a little bit, quieting his voice although nobody is paying attention to them anyways. "Wow Eddie, day one and you're already lusting over me? Thought I'd have to butter you up for the whole trip." He is joking, clearly, but this isn't his 'Im Richie Tozier and I like to annoy the fuck out of everyone' kind of joking, this is his 'I'm Richie Tozier and comedy is my defense mechanism' humor. But there, Eddie still sees it, although maybe he doesn't completely recognize it yet, in Richie's eyes it is more than a hint of want.

Eddie stits up, and he laughs nervously because his brain is all like oh shit oh shit oh shit, Richie just watched you get turned on, AND PRETTY CLEARLY it was due to him. "Okay, ahah, Beep beep Richie. Sorry, friction is a bitch,"

It's clearly an excuse, and a shitty one at that because Richie knew as well as he did that there was hardly any 'friction' during that experience. But neither of them are planning on calling Eddie out for it, so the shot boy awkwardly excuses himself to the bathroom to get away before another loser could ask questions.

As Richie watches the little firecracker shuffle away with his head down, he can't help that happy feeling in his chest. Little explosions of, what? Hope maybe? He'd ask Stan later what it meant when all you want to do is jump up and down and announce to the whole world that you just made your best friend pop a boner.

Okay, so he'd paraphrase it.

-

Walking around New York City was much more comfortable in a big group. Bill, being Bill, made everyone choose a buddy to keep their eyes on at all times so nobody was alone. Bev and Ben were stuck together, and Richie almost asked Eddie, but he figured that the boy should enjoy his day without having to be Richie's babysitter, so he partners with Stan and Mike. Bill and Eddie up leading the pack.

Honestly, Richie knows it will work out better this way. Bill is a natural born leader, and Eddie was basically the equivalent to a human compass. Besides, it's not like Richie takes offense to this.

He proves that this decision was good with pretty much all of Richie's actions throughout the day.

First of all, there was the moment when they first turned the corner into Time Square. Eddie's face had gone into kid-on-christmas overdrive. His eyes wide as the billboards, mouth hanging open in shock, feet frozen, just taking in the view. If Richie had been his partner, they would have just stood there, Eddie looking at all comotion, and Richie looking at Eddie until they were trampled into the ground. But luckily, Bill had dragged him forwards, and Stan pulled Richie along too, rolling his eyes.

Next, Eddie would have lost his shit when Richie played lets-see-how-many-strangers-we-can-high-five with Mike. Mike won by a grandma.

Then there was the in store incident, which wasn't much of an incident at all. Essentially, they went into a china shop so Stan could buy a tea cup. Nothing happened because the group did a good job of keeping Eddie and Richie distracted, but if the two had been together, they would have definitely seen who could balance more fragile shit on their heads-- it was a recipe for disaster.

They decided to see if the last minute box office retailers had any show tickets left, and yes they did. They had 2 to Phantom of the Opera and 5 for Miss Saigon. Although Richie wished he could go watch Phantom with Eddie, he knew that if he went they'd get kicked out for talking because Richie couldn't shut up around the kid. Seriously, they went to the theater alone in Derry once to see Point Break in Sophomore year, and they were thrown out for heckling. It was fun though...

Finally, there was Stan and Mike saving the dumbass from almost being kidnapped, but he'd rather not get into that one, so, lets just say Richie had learned his lessons about following strange men into alleyways for Candy--yes, he was that oblivious.

So, after a whole day of exploring the Big Apple, finally Richie found an opportunity to let his hip become reattached to the hypochondriac's.

Eddie was now wearing a hat that said 'I <3 NYC' and sitting in the corner of the booth--having disinfected it first-- at the McDonalds they were eating at.

For Spring Break, the city was pretty dead, but the losers would not have guessed that 20 minute waits for fast food abnormally fast if someone wrote it on a multiple choice test.

Richie slid into the booth a soda in each hand. Eddie usually didn't drink pop, claiming it made his tummy feel weird, but he never refused a ginger ale. Richie was far happier with his rootbeer.

"So, whatcha think of the city Eddie bea--" But before Richie could even finish his pick up line, Eddie interjected.

"Isn't this place awesome, Rich? THe lights, the movement. Everyone here is always just- go, go, go! For once I feel like I belong, you know? Like the crowded streets full of people ducking through traffic just to get to yoga on time! I love it! You can see their urges, their, their need for speed! It's like everyone here has a mind like me! And the language, hah, you blend in-- I watched a man call a pigeon a pussy for shitting on him and not his wife! It was crazy! But really, from the taxi cab drivers beeping their horns, to the viagra ads that are 70 feet tall, to the culture, the art built right into the soul of this city, Richie," And he swears, there were tears in Eddie's eyes, "I love it."

And I love you, Eddie kaspbrak. Richie thinks to himself. From your hopeless comebacks, to your doomingly engaging eyes, to your fanny pack that makes you look like an old lady, I love you. From the freckles that are sprinkles across your cheeks in the summer, and hazey reminders of the freedom we had then in the winter, to your puffy eyes when you need a good, ugly cry, I am fucking in love with a Kaspbrak, and its not Sonia. It's her son.

"Damn." I want to kiss you "You know this place is like the disease capital of the world or some shit, right?"

And all Eddie does is laughs. Yeah. He does.